I've been happily reading this site for a long, long time and finally found something that moved me enough to post. I'm excited about checking out the albums that show up multiple times, and some of the others. So, thanks for starting this topic whoever did it, and thanks for the passionate posting to everyone else...

Mass Romantic, New Pornogrpahers. I loved it so much, I emailed my ex (note to everyone: don't do this. Dumb move.) Fortunately, his non-plussedness had no effect. I did, however, see him and his "new" girlfriend/fiance at the NP show right after seeing my boss at the same gig. It was a wierd night and I was typically uncool. New Pornographers put on a great show, which made up for everything.

I fell in love with the Von Bondies cover of Bring It On Home To Me, the bonus on Lack of Communication, but never knew that it was even a cover because it wasn't listed in the notes. I'd kinda forgotten about that album for a year or more, and then one day a friend handed me the Sam Cooke cd to listen to becuase it kinda fit with something else I'd been listening to, and I was floored. I got to listen to it beginning to end, alone in the car. So that song came on, and I almost stopped the car to listen. I was so happy to FINALLY know somethign about that song. And his voice, the crowd, the band. All great.

It’s been so long since I’ve experienced a head over heels love at first listen disc that I sometimes wonder if these experiences have more to do with my age and less to do with the music.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not yelling at the neighbourhood kids to get off my lawn and expressing my concern about the youth of today with their piercings, tattoos and loud music (yet).

There have been many songs that I’ve instantly fallen for. Songs played so many times that I’ve nearly worn out the zeroes and ones (most recently Donovan Woods’ My Cousin Has a Grey Cup Ring). But it’s been a very long time since an entire album grabbed me by the ears and made me feel the way I used to when I was a teenager, routinely blowing my measly grocery store paycheque on stacks of vinyl.

I also think I’m guilty of confusing first-listen/ first love albums with the music that’s the cornerstone of memories. The Beatles Blue and Red Albums – seemed like every kid in my neighbourhood had copies of these. Took me years to figure out why you’d need any other Beatles albums. The Replacements’ Pleased to Meet Me lived in my bright yellow sony walkman sport through my first bad teenage job. Doolittle by the Pixies was transformative...Rattlesnakes is the sound of grade 10. But did I love any of these on first listen? I honestly couldn’t say.

The last one that did get me from the first spin was Jim Bryson’s the Occasionals. It was a Christmas present that I put off listening to. I put it on one January night whilst doing the dishes and I ended up with a sink full of cold water and diminishing suds, sitting alone in the dining room enthralled.